As soon as the sun rose above the horizon, both Xavier and Mickey headed West into the forest, trying to get an early start on their hunt. They moved swiftly yet quietly though the forest, making their way towards where Xavier threw the belt pouches, but first, they stopped at Xavier's little stash of guns.
"Do you even know how to use one of these?" Mickey asked, as he held the guns.
"You just aim and shoot right." Xavier said, and tried to load the magazine into the gun like he saw the guards did, but he was struggling. Seeing this, Mickey sighed as he realized that neither of them had any training using rifles. Xavier eventually got it, and sighed contentedly, before the two of them continued to move stealthily through the forest. They soon arrived at the spot where Xavier threw the belt pouches, and after rummaging around in the bushes for a bit, he found them.
"Four magazines huh, not a bad start." Xavier said, placing two of the magazines in his chest pocket and handing the other two to Mickey before throwing the burnt pouches back into the bushes. Mickey loaded his gun, and fastened the shield onto his back, while securing his bronze sword on his hips.
"Not gonna lie, this doesn't feel half bad." Mickey said, feeling the gun in his hand, before the two of them continued moving through the forest. After jogging for nearly forty minutes, the two of them looked at each other, both having a frown on their faces.
"Where are the monsters?" Mickey asked, up until now, they haven't encountered a single imp and that was....worrying. If the imps weren't in the forest, the only other place they could be is the dungeon, but why would all of them be there? Suddenly a thought appeared in Xavier's head.
"Let's hurry to the dungeon, I want to see this." Xavier said and sprinted ahead and Mickey closely followed behind him
"See what?" Mickey asked curiously
"Remember that pile of imp corpses with all their monster stones ripped out. What if those corpses were fresher than we thought? Maybe, the imps kill each other every day and take the monster stones from the ones that die?" Xavier asked and Mickey looked at him confused.
"But why would they do that?" Mickey asked.
"Why else? To raise their ranks and become Diabolic Imps." Xavier answered and Mickey thought the idea sounded plausible, but there was something he didn't get.
"Then the imps we have been killing in the forest, where did they come from? If they fight to the death everyday with the intent of raising their ranks, why would there be left overs? They would want as many monster stones as possible right. And I don't rememver seeing any wounds or battle scars on the imps we fought." Mickey said and Xavier thought for a moment. It was true, if they wanted to raise their ranks so badly that they would kill their own kin and lessen their numbers, why would they have left overs? Especially since he knew that their were ranks above E+, and they would surely need more monster stones to reach them.
"Maybe their scouts or something." Xavier said, but he couldn't be sure. The two of them soon arrived at the dungeon, and they clutched their guns as they moved cautiously through the ruins. They could hear shrill shrieks as they advanced deeper into the ruins, and they hid behind a building as they bore witness to the scene that was unfurling before them. Imps, hundreds of them, were fighting each other in furious battle with claws and teeth digging into the flesh of their kin. Chunks of flesh flew everywhere as they fought bitterly, and both Mickey and Xavier watched this scene in awe and horror. They spotted ten Diabolic Imps flying above, spectating this scene as well, their arms crossed.
The furious battle for survival continued for over an hour, before only thirty of the initial hundreds was left. Seeing the battered imps about to clash again, a Diabolic Imp said something in an unfamiliar tongue, and they flew down and started ripping out the monster stones from the corpses and consume them.
"Should we attack now while they're distracted?" Mickey whispered and Xavier thought about it. If he did, he would have hundreds of monster stones, way more than anyone of them ever had. More than the Warden ever had, more than enough to surpass him him raw attributes. But their was a huge problem, where would they put it all?
"No, I want to see what they are doing." Xavier answered
"But-" Mickey said, but Xavier cut him off
"We have nowhere to stash that many monster stones, and if we leave them here, the imps will use them anyway. So we wait." Xavier said, and turned back to the monsters. They had finished harvesting all the monster stones, but they didn't consume all of them, and Xavier could tell why. The imps were glowing red, a shimmering glow that seemed to increase in intensity by the second. They quickly gathered the extra monster stones, and the imps along with three of the Diabolic Imps flew off somewhere.
"Now we strike." Xavier said, after five minutes past. He aimed the gun at a Diabolic Imp, carefully lining up the sights.
"Aim for the wings, they will be easier to deal with once they are on the ground." Mickey said, and Xavier nodded his head as he had the same idea.